In his first public statement since testing positive for a pair of steroids, former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva denied using any performance-enhancing drugs and said he’ll fight to clear his name.

“My stances on drug is, and will always be the same,” Silva said in the statement, sent to MMAjunkie via his co-manager, Jorge Guimares. “I am an advocate for a clean sport.”

In the pay-per-view headliner of this past Saturday’s UFC 183 event, Silva (34-6 MMA, 17-2 UFC), 39, returned from a 13-month layoff due to a broken leg and won a decision against Nick Diaz (26-10 MMA, 7-7 UFC), who failed a post-fight test for marijuana. The Jan. 31 event took place at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena and its main card aired live on pay-per-view.

The UFC announced the test results Tuesday night. According to the Nevada State Athletic Commission, Silva, 39, tested positive for drostanolone metabolites, which indicates the use of an anabolic steroid, as well as androsterone, a form of endogenous testosterone, in an out-of-competition test administered by the Sports Medicine Research & Testing Laboratory, a WADA-approved facility in Salt Lake City.

Below is Silva’s statement:

I’ve been competing in this sport for a very long time. This is my 19th fight in the UFC. I have been thoroughly tested many times and have never had a positive drug test.

I have not taken any performance-enhancing drugs. My stances on drug is, and will always be, the same. I am an advocate for a clean sport.

I’m consulting with my advisors right now to explore all my options and intend to fight this allegation and clear my name. I will not make any further comments until my team advises me to do so.

NSAC Executive Director Bob Bennett today told MMAjunkie that a member of Silva’s camp expressed interested in testing the “B” sample of the fighter’s urine sample that produced the positive test.

“They wanted to take (the sample) to another lab, and according to (the World Anti-Doping Agency), you can’t take (samples) to other (labs),” Bennett said. “But at your own expense, you can go to (the SMRTL) and look at the ‘B’ sample to see if it hasn’t been tampered with, wait there for the testing to be done, and you can get results then and there. Based on my comments, I have not heard anything back from them today.”

According to WADA protocols, blood and urine samples are divided into two parts, an “A” and “B” sample, so that the results of a drug test can be verified, particularly in the case of a disputed result.

Bennett said the NSAC has yet to file a formal complaint against Silva. The fighter’s failed test will be addressed at a Feb. 17 commission meeting in Las Vegas. The commission likely will temporarily suspend him pending a formal hearing on the findings in his case.

Silva faces a suspension and fines, and his win could be overturned to a no-contest.

In 2009 Silva’s longtime training partner, Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante, challenged the California State Athletic Commission after a post-fight drug test found metabolites of the steroid stanozolol following a win under the now-defunct Strikeforce banner. The fighter’s camp hired a drug testing expert to witness the testing of his “B” sample at the WADA-accredited UCLA Olympic Analytical Laboratory.

Despite a CSAC official’s admission that he used incorrectly dated forms in the collection of Cavalcante’s urine, and differing accounts of how the sample was collected, the commission upheld a one-year suspension.

Silva’s doctor, Dr. Marcio Tannure, who also acts as the medical director of the Brazilian MMA Athletic Commission, said the ex-champ will request his “B” sample and believes the only explanation for the positive test is “a contamination or a mistake from the lab.”